During the summer there are so many barbecues, festivals and other opportunities for my children to consume too much sugar in the form of soda and other sweets. What would you recommend?

My first suggestion for controlling dental problems from sugar consumption is to confine the intake of sweets to mealtimes. If your child only has sweets at these times there is a limit, biologically speaking, to the destructive phase of the sweets. At the fairs and festivals its much harder to restrict these consumption times. A thorough brushing and flossing would be my strong recommendation. If there is ever a time to floss the teeth, it would be now. I marvel at the confections that are at these events, from cotton candy to mega-sized sodas. Let’s face it, though. We all splurge and have our favorite sweets. Having a plan to control the deleterious effects is key!